Diseases of the brain are typically long term and disabling, and their care is expensive. A report compiled in 2000 shows 1.1 million new cases annually of the 10 most common brain diseases. More than 16 million persons receive ongoing care for these diseases (www.caregiver.org). With over 36,000 members, the Society for Neuroscience seeks to advance knowledge of the healthy and diseased brain through basic research, toward the prevention and treatment of brain disease. MyNeuroLab.com's objective is to support these neuroscience researchers with the cutting-edge, specialized tools and instruments they need to do their work. Among the company's products are stereotaxic instruments. These instruments are utilized to position probes at specific points in the brains of research animals. (Similar instruments are also used in human neurosurgery.) When using these instruments, accuracy is critical. Because of biological variations and imperfections in the installment and alignment in the stereotaxic instrument, however, probes do not enter the target structure in a significant percentage of cases. This problem is not discovered until histology, after other - often costly - tests have been completed. Improved stereotaxic accuracy would decrease the number of research animals needed, save time, and reduce the overall cost of neuroscience research. MyNeuroLab.com has developed a patent-pending stereotaxic instrument that has the potential to greatly improve stereotaxic accuracy. With five axes of encoder input to a computer, this instrument improves resolution and computes entry angles, greatly speeding the probe placement process. The proposed research aims to develop computer algorithms to further improve the instrument's accuracy. The first objective is to correct alignment errors by adjusting target coordinates for deviations in the vertical position of the skull landmarks, Bregma and Lambda. Second, create software that implements an idea tested in the 1980s, but little-used since, that uses both landmarks to figure an animal's target coordinates. While more accurate than using either landmark alone, this approach has not come into common use, perhaps because the complex calculations required for each surgery are time-consuming and raise the specter of mathematical error. Once the coordinates are stored in a computer, these risks are eliminated. A Phase II proposal will develop the option to use digital photos or MRI plates from the animal as the atlas. ? ? ?
